CPE Links

Continuing Education Requirement

The basic continuing professional education (CPE) requirement to re-obtain or renew the Ohio permit is 120 credits over a three-year period. New CPAs holding the Ohio permit are required to report 40 credits over a two-year period.

(A) The continuing education requirement for certified public accountants and public accountants holding the Ohio permit is one hundred twenty credits for each triennial reporting period. The triennial reporting period begins on January first and ends on December thirty-first three years later. An Ohio permit holder must complete a minimum of twenty CPE credit annually. Failure to complete twenty CPE credits annually will result in a fine of ten dollars for every CPE credit deficient.

The Accountancy Board of Ohio, in cooperation with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), is now offering a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Tracking Tool for all active Ohio CPAs. This tool is available for your use at no charge and allows you to keep track of and store all of your CPE records in one location. The CPE tracking tool is located at:oh.cpetracking.comWhen logging in your user ID/license number begins with; CPA.(plus your 5-digit license number).

Continuing education is due on the license renewal date for all Ohio permit holders.

All continuing education reporting periods (24 and 36 months) begin on January 1 and end on December 31.

Continuing education may be earned in any field that contributes to a licensee's professional competence. Registered CPE sponsors agree to conform to the NASBA/AICPA CPE Standards, and this includes keeping appropriate documentation for CPE verification purposes.

Each licensee holding the Ohio permit is responsible for retaining appropriate documentation for all CPE credit claimed. There should be adequate support for completion and CPE credit claimed. Normally, a certificate of completion is issued by the program sponsor as proof of attendance/completion. Some sponsors issue a transcript that serves as documentation for all the programs taken by a licensee from that sponsor.

The following Ohio permit holders must earn 24 CPE credits in accounting or auditing:

CPAs or PAs who work on financial reporting engagements

CPAs or PAs who perform financial reporting work outside public accounting while using the CPA designation ("regulated services")

The following Ohio permit holders must earn 24 CPE credits in taxation:

CPAs or PAs who work on taxation engagements or provide tax advice to clients

CPAs or PAs who perform tax work outside public accounting while using the CPA designation ("regulated services")

All CPAs holding the Ohio permit must take 3 credits in professional standards and responsibilities ("PSR") each reporting period. CPE sponsors that wish to present courses in Ohio professional standards and responsibilities must register with the Board, submit all course materials and qualifications of the instructor or CPE program designers to the Board for review and approval.

A licensee may claim PSR credit for programs in the following four areas if the course is Board approved and documentation is retained: (1) the Ohio accountancy law and rules, (2) the accountancy law and rules of another state, (3) professional ethics for CPAs, or (4) ethical philosophy.